Illuminati #6

Part of Marvel's 2016 "Avengers Standoff" crossover event, this sixth case file delivers one of the more memorably absurd cover images of the year: a massive, grey-skinned villain in a soda-jerk apron grins contentedly behind "Avengers Crime Scene" tape, holding an ice cream cone in one fist and a wrench in the other, while a small bulldog perches on a cannonball at his feet. Riley Rossmo's cover art captures the darkly comic tension of Pleasant Hill — a seemingly cheerful small-town setting that is anything but — with a retro diner backdrop that makes the menace all the more unsettling. Written by Joshua Williamson with interior art by Mike Henderson and colors by John Rauch, this issue promises the quirky, offbeat energy that made Illuminati a standout corner of the Marvel Universe.